And Then She Sang
by Keitorin Asthore
Summary: Toph loves a few things besides earthbending. Oneshot. COMPLETE.


Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Bryke and Nickelodeon, not me.

-

-

-

"No, Miss Bei Fong, not like that."

The child picked up the slippery flute and tossed it in the corner. "I don't like it," she announced. The flute clattered to the floor.

The young music teacher sighed. Four years of study at the Ba Sing Se conservatory had not prepared her to teach a spoiled, impetuous seven-year-old. "We've tried everything," she sighed. "The flute, the koto, the harp…even the tsungi horn. There's nothing left."

"Drums!" Toph said.

"No, Miss Bei Fong," the teacher explained for the umpteenth time. "Young ladies don't play the drums. It's undignified."

"I don't care," Toph said, crossing her arms and scowling.

The teacher sorted through her stacks of music. "We can try singing," she sighed. "We haven't done that."

"I don't want to do that either," the pretty, petulant child said. She plunked to the floor. Toph hated music lessons, nearly as much as dance lessons. She hated the itchy feeling of plunking vibrating strings and the ache in her lungs after blowing into cold metal tubes.

The young teacher picked up a lute and tuned it. "Stand up," she said. "Stand up straight and tall, and breathe deep."

Toph obeyed, sulking all the while. She tossed her long hair over her shoulders and clenched her fists.

The teacher plunked a note- a smooth, honeyed middle tone. "Sing that," she sighed.

Toph did. It began as an annoyed, off-key howl, but she stopped. She took another breath and tried again, this time in earnest.

The breath radiated from deep within her diaphragm. Vibrations poured through her small body as she sang the single note. It sounded wild and wonderful- a clear, pure beautiful vibration.

The teacher dropped her finger from the string. "Yes," she said, surprised. "Yes, that was lovely, Toph. Try this."

She plucked another string, this time slightly higher. Toph sang it easily. She could feel the vibrations throughout her body, could hear the sound bouncing from the walls and the floors. It was the same forbidden exhilaration as earthbending.

She smiled wickedly. It was the perfect rebellion.

-----

"As I went home on Friday night, as drunk as drunk could be," she sang, "I saw a head upon the bed where my old head should be."

Toph pushed the window wide open. The spring breeze blew across her cheeks. "Well, I called my wife and said to her, 'will you kindly tell to me who owns the head upon the bed where my old head should be?'" she sang.

She rested her hands on the window ledge and leaned out. "'You're drunk, you're drunk, you silly old fool, still you cannot see?'" she sang at the top of her lungs. "'That's a baby boy that my mother sent to me.' Hey, it's many a day I've traveled, a hundred miles or more, but a baby boy with whiskers on I never saw before."

She grinned at her own daring and launched into a reprise of the chorus. Her bedroom door flew open. "Toph Bei Fong!" her mother scolded breathlessly. "How dare you?"

"You told me to practice my music," she shrugged.

"Not with the window wide open," Poppy said. She pulled Toph away and latched the window securely. "And I can't imagine that your teacher would allow a young lady, especially one who's only twelve, to sing such a naughty song as that. Where in the world did you learn it?"

_At the Earth Rumble locker room_, she was dying to say, but she merely shrugged again. Poppy sighed heavily. "Enough music for the day. You ought to take a nap."

"Mom, I'm not tired," she protested.

Her mother patted her cheek with a cool hand; her skin smelled faintly of lemon verbena. "You know you're not very strong," she said.

_I am, I AM, _she yearned to yell, but she said nothing and scowled instead.

-----

She sat alone on the prow of the ship, her arms wrapped around her knees. The chilly salt air stung her lips and cool water sprayed her skin, but she didn't care. She just wanted a little bit of peace.

The Fire Nation ship made her uneasy. The clanking metal was still foreign to her- she hadn't developed much metalbending yet. The thought that she was trapped in water, miles and miles from the safety of land…she felt lost.

It didn't help that Aang was still unconscious. A week had passed since Azula struck him with her lightning, and he still had not awakened. Katara spent most of her time with him; when she left his little room her face was pale and drawn. Sokka was distracted too. He spent all of his time talking with his father, making plans and training.

She buried her head in her arms. Her heart ached. The ship rocked beneath her- back and forth, back and forth, back and forth- gentle yet still dangerous. She began to sing under her breath, the air warming her cold skin. The vibrations were gentle and soothing. The words of the lullaby brought back memories of her childhood nurse rocking her to sleep.

"Nothing shall tonight alarm you," she sang, her voice growing stronger. "None shall harm you, have no fear."

She sang with all the strength in her body, singing until there was no breath left and filling her lungs with cold air. The sound of her voice floated across the water, clear and pure and sweet. The vibrations echoed against the metal hull of the ship and bounced back to her. For the first time since they took the ship, she could see completely clearly.

"Have no fear now, leaves are knocking," she sang.

A second voice joined her- soft and husky. "Gently knocking at our door."

Toph sang with them, singing a bright high harmony. Have no fear now, waves are beating, gently beating on the shore."

She recognized the voice. Katara.

"Sleep, my darling, none shall harm you," the older girl sang. She stepped up and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Nor alarm you, never."

Toph rubbed her knuckles against her stinging eyes. "And beguiling those on high," she sang quietly. She twisted around and hugged Katara tightly. Katara buried her face in her shoulder, and the waves rolled beneath them.

-----

The tavern echoed with the clanging of tankards, the sloshing of alcohol, and the shouting of inebriated men. The musicians tuned their instruments noisily. She laughed.

"You're in an awfully good mood," Sokka said.

"I'm seventeen today," she laughed. "I can drink now!"

"That never stopped you before," he said. She leaned against him, happy and flushed, with her hand on his arm. Through his skin she felt the quick thumps of his excited heartbeat. "You know, I'm going to miss you."

She pulled back. "If I have a reason to stay, I will," she said. His heartbeat quickened under her touch.

"What shall we sing now?" the lead musician called.

"'The Sterilized Heiress'!" Toph hollered.

"Not that one," Sokka groaned.

"Well, I find it funny."

"How about 'Alis'?" the lead musician suggested. The crowd roared their approval.

Toph clapped her hands as they launched into the song. Her bare toes tapped against the dirty floor to the beat of the song.

"I don't know why she's leaving, or where she's gonna go, I guess she's got her reasons, but I just don't want to know, 'cos for twenty-four years I've been living next door to Alis," the musican sang.

"Alis! Alis! Who the fuck is Alis?" Toph shouted along with the band.

The lead musician gestured for her. She climbed onto the table, the skirt of her pale green party dresses flaring at her ankles. "Twenty-four years just waiting for a chance," she sang, "to tell her how I'm feeling, maybe get a second glance, now I've got to get used to not living next door to Alis."

"Alis! Alis! Who the fuck is Alis?" the crowd roared.

She finished the song with the band, standing high on the rough wooden table, her clear voice rising above the noisy crowd and lilting through the melody of the song. The crowd clapped and cheered for her; she bowed her deepest, most elaborate court bow before sliding back into her seat. Sokka laughed.

"What?" she said.

"You love singing, don't you?" he said.

"Not as much as you," she said without thinking.

"What?" he said, raising his voice above the noise of the tavern.

Heat flushed into her cheeks. "I mean, not as much as earthbending," she fibbed.

"And you love singing naughty songs," he grinned.

"They're funny," she protested.

He chucked her under the chin. "You're adorable," he laughed. He leaned over and kissed her on the mouth. Chills spread through her body- the same sort of vibrations that came from singing, but a million times better.

He pulled back. "So was that a good enough reason to stay?" he said. She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

-

-

-

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry about the f-bombs. That song was just too perfect! It's one of my favorite drinking songs.

I read a very well-written oneshot about Toph using singing as another form of bending, since she's so in-tune with vibrations. I wanted to play a variation on that theme.

All the songs are real. The first one is "Seven Drunken Nights," which is a super hilarious Irish drinking song. There's a couple of different versions- I had Toph sing one of the naughtier ones.

The lullaby is a Welsh song called "Suo Gan." I sang the English-language version for voice lessons a few years ago and I've always loved it.

The last song is "Who the Fuck is Alice?". And it's funny. Super funny. So funny, in fact, I broke my personal rule about not using gratutitious language. But come on! It's so funny!

I hope you still like me...


End file.
